The present invention relates to a plater which continuously plates articles. The invention is suitable for single substance or alloy plating. The invention further provides novel rinse and dryer methods and devices.
There are numerous continuous platers in the prior art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,829, entitled "Plating Machine" to J. F. Trudeau; U.S. Pat. No. 2,255,922, entitled "Return Type Fast Transfer Machine" to V. Finston; U.S. Pat. No. 2,428,141, entitled "Process for Cleaning, Stripping, and Polishing Metal Surfaces" to T. E. Burkhardt; U.S. Pat. No. 2,387,160, entitled "Article Handling Apparatus" to W. W. Loney; U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,360, entitled "Process for Continuous Anodizing of Aluminum" to Woods, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,122, entitled "Electrocoating Equipment" to Urquhart; and Meaker Variable Speed Plating Machine pamphlet; all disclose a single bath continuous plating system. However, these references do not disclose multiple baths. In addition, the U.S. Pat. Nos. '122, '360 and '141 patents do not teach a horizontal system, but lower and lift articles or parts to be plated into the bath. The U.S. Pat. No. '160 patent describes plating only a portion of the article, leaving the rest above the plating bath. U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,698, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Spacing Electrodes" to J. P. Dyer discloses spacing anodes for a plating operation.
Other prior art patents disclose multiple plating baths or processes, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,308, entitled "Electrochemical Treating and Apparatus" to H. Pochapsky, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,097, entitled "Selective Plating Machines" to Baldock, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,461, entitled "Tab Plater for Circuit Boards or the Like" to Lovejoy; U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,650, entitled "Workpiece Clamp Assembly for Electrolytic Plating Machine" to Maron; U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,090, entitled "Continuous Electroplating Device" to Francis; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,211, entitled "Process and System for Electrodeposition Coating" to Sakai. The U.S. Pat. Nos. '211 and '309 patents disclose complicated movement systems; the U.S. Pat. No. '211 patent provides for the articles to be plated to be disposed in baskets. The U.S. Pat. Nos. '211, '090, '650, 097' and '461 patents all disclose chain conveyor systems, some with hoists for lowering and lifting the parts into the baths/processes. The U.S. Pat. Nos. '090, '650, '097, and '461 patents all disclose plating only a portion of the article, rather than submerging the entire article into the plating tank.
The present invention, on the other hand, allows for multiple bath plating, alloy plating, submersion of the entire article, a novel horizontal conveyor/drive system and recycling of most process streams.